Council approves police contract, notes rise in crime

Lorain police have a new work contract and city council members have concerns about a rise in crime.

On May 3, Lorain City Council voted 10-1 to approve a contract for officers and command staff retroactive from Jan. 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2022.

The collective bargaining agreement prompted discussion about city finances and the need for more police to combat an increase in violence in Lorain.

The contract has no annual pay raises for officers for its three-year term, said Mayor Jack Bradley.

Starting this year, the city will use a new formula to calculate police officer longevity pay.

Previously, officers with three or more years of work would receive $225 for every year of service, up to $4,500 for officers with 20 years on the job.

The new scale will calculate longevity pay as a percentage of base salary, starting at 2 percent for officers with three years’ experience.

Longevity pay will go up 1 percent per year of experience, up to a maximum 20 percent of the base salary for an officer with 20 years’ experience.

The long-term financial effects of the longevity pay prompted the most discussion.

Council members Beth Henley, Rob McFarland, Pamela Carter, Greg Argenti, JoAnne Moon, Rey Carrion, Cory Shawver, Joshua Thornsberry, Mary Springowski and Tony Dimacchia voted for the police union contract. Councilman-atLarge Mitch Fallis was the lone dissenter.

“The city of Lorain on Monday night did not follow a best practice relative to reviewing the FOP contract from a fiscally responsible position,” Fallis said. “They voted on it with not knowing, not counting the cost of what that would be to the general fund.”

After the meeting, Fallis said it was a bad practice.

“It wasn’t a best practice, it was a bad practice,” and it should not happen again, he said.

Union response

Police union President Kyle Gelenius thanked the city administration for its efforts.

“On behalf of the members of the Fraternal Order of Police, Lorain Lodge No. 3, I would like to thank Mayor Bradley for negotiating a contract which is fair to both the citizens of Lorain and to the sworn officers of the Lorain Police Department,” Gelenius said. “It will go a long way to improving department morale, which has been suffering for quite some time.

“At a time when law enforcement is in peril, officers need to make a decentlivable wage. We need to retain qualified officers who go out every day trying to make this city a safe place to live, work and play.

“Hopefully, this contract will accomplish that goal; I think Lorain City Council recognized that fact. I thank Council for passing it expeditiously and working together for the betterment of the city.”

Council talks

Fallis argued council did not have enough information to consider the contract.

The agreement included changes in longevity pay for officers with four to 20 years of experience, Fallis said.

But there was no indication of what the financial implications would be in those years, he said.

Fallis said he supported the police and did not oppose the contract, but he urged council to hold the contract in abeyance until there was more information to determine the long-term effects.

“I just think that caution should be the motive of city council at our meeting tonight,” he said.

Lorain has had murders in recent days; meanwhile, the FOP members ratified the contract a month and a half ago, Springowski said.

She asked City Auditor Karen Shawver to explain any financial effects and said any other council members also could ask.

Carrion said he respected Fallis’ review, but did not want to wait.

“I might not be too familiar with the exponential mathematics, but I am very familiar with exponential shootings in my area and in my side of town,” Carrion said.

It seems shootings are becoming a weekly to a daily occurrence, he said, and he questioned if Lorain’s leaders were becoming numb to reports of violence.

Those incidents are not right and are not acceptable, Carrion said.

Police are battling a wave of crime, drugs and disrespect, so Lorain needs to keep its best officers engaged, he said. Carter agreed.

She said it seems like every day, she learns of new shootings or drug deals.

The longevity pay is an incentive for officers to stay and at least they would have a financial picture down the road, Carter said.

Shawver said she was not part of the negotiating team and she deferred to the administration for details.

Mayor Jack Bradley cited an article, provided by police Chief James McCann, that presented pay as an element of police reform.

Lorainites relied on firstresponder safety forces during the worst days of the novel coronavirus pandemic and officers worked the streets, Bradley said.

Council members are correct that Lorain has had a lot of crime, but the city is trying to build up the police department, he said.

This week, Bradley said he and top administrators interviewed five officers who want to work in the city, and the police department will expand its roster to 100 or more.

“And we need to tell our officers that if you stay with the city of Lorain, you’re going to be rewarded for that,” Bradley said.

Police received a $900 basic pay increase in 2011, but no raises in 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2017.

Raises were 2 percent in 2014 and 2015 and 1 percent in 2018, Bradley said.

“It’s time to recognize the fine men and women that serve us every day, that have to deal with the situations that they deal with,” he said. “And I think this is fair, and I don’t think it’s something we should quibble about.”

He estimated the changes would cost the city $500,000 this year to keep the officers on the streets.

Carter said she agreed, but pressed for a more firm dollar figure.

An exact figure is not available because no one knows the future projections for longevity, Argenti said. He predicted council may have to revisit the issue when salary figures grow.